Jacob Brookman

Composer and producer based in Shoreditch.

Jacob Brookman is a composer, producer and blogger based in Shoreditch. He's also a proactive member of the Fabian Society and has written extensively on politics, music and - his speciality - celebrity Twitter rows.

As my girlfriend probably won't agree, this season the Barclays Premier League has been bloody sensational. Global juggernauts are in freefall under inexperienced leadership, early pace setters have faltered amid poor planning, and forgotten masters have been rehabilitated as title favourites...

Classical music is a problematic term - it actually refers to a period of musical development from around 1750 to 1820, during which particular formats were developed - things like symphonies, operas and concertos.

Signature Pictures is a London-based film production enterprise. Their #FutureFilm initiative suggested it was a good idea to offer Workfare volunteers roles on a short film. This way, the company would benefit from interns - the way nearly every production does anyway - and would produce a film that would give <em>NEETs</em> meaningful and constructive professional experience.

With panto season in full flight, I was pleased to see <em>Cold War</em> hero and burger enthusiast David Hasselhoff playing Captain Hook at the <em>Theatre Royal</em> - in my native Nottingham. And it made me wonder about the public's relationship with villainous stars, and why certain individuals continue to court global success despite not actually being liked.

So if American accents historically sell better, why does Boy George's singing style sound so passé? One word: Adele. Oasis, Coldplay and the Arctic Monkeys may have paved the way, but in terms of commercial and critical success, Adele is a genuine game changer when it comes to British-sounding vocals.

There's a phrase I've come to use to describe some of pop's more 'interesting' offerings: <em>Authentically contrived.</em>Nicki Minaj is an excellent example. She appears to use her money and appearance as the key creative stimulus for her artistic output.

On Monday the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, was challenged by a northern market stall trader to live on £53 a week. This concept caught fire as an online petition was set up and quickly received over 450k signatures.

Presently, social media is a tool that benefits liberal parties more than conservative ones. The reason is partially the age gap - Labour voters tend to be younger than Tory ones - and partially down to the very nature of the political landscape.

I'm boycotting Rihanna the brand because I am incandescent at any kind of acceptance of domestic violence. We are in a different environment to 30 or 40 years ago, when cigarette advertising, drink driving and bigoted comedians were accepted norms. I hope to drive this conversation forward.

Essentially, my final year was a frustrating affair. So frustrating, in fact that I felt the need to implement an 'instant cull' rule whereby, anyone who published an Facebook post that I deemed useless was instantly culled from my friends.

12/11/2012 17:18 GMT

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